


The New Guy at Coulson's Gym

by BerlinKabarett



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bucky self-conscious about prosthetic arm, Bucky's hot new co worker, Crushes, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Slash, Steve is a bae, Stucky - Freeform, Thorki - Freeform, Thunderfrost - Freeform, Workplace AU, but later on, human dorito, just look at him, ofcourse Steve works in a gym, this is Stucky
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-14 18:43:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8024878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BerlinKabarett/pseuds/BerlinKabarett
Summary: AU - Bucky has worked at Coulson's Gym with best friends Sam and Natasha for almost five years, and is pretty sad when Sam leaves for a change of career in Europe. But when one door closes, another opens, and the rumours Bucky has heard about the new guy describe him as some big blond muscle-head. But he's probably a jerk. ...Right?





	1. Goodbye Sam, Hellooooo New Guy

**Author's Note:**

> I think this is my first AU, and yes, I'm procrastinating from writing more of the bigger, in-universe post-Civil War Stucky fic. But this popped into my head, and by Odin it was cute.

The leaving do had been really fun despite his initial misgivings about going, in case it was a sobby cheese-fest, but he'd actually had a great time and really spent some quality time with Sam before he jetted off to Europe.

  
"It's not like you guys'll never see me again, Buck," Sam insisted, almost sloshing his beer over his friend. "It's a twelve month placement. I might decide not to stay. Besides, Nat's gonna look after you while I'm gone." Sam winked, grinning at the two seated nearby on the couch.

  
The goodbye party for Sam was in Sam's almost-cleared out apartment; most of his things had been sent on to Frankfurt. The apartment seemed kind of stripped out and sad to Bucky.

  
The three of them, Bucky, Nat, and Sam, all had worked together for almost five years at the city's most popular fitness centre. It wasn't great pay, but all of them considered fitness or sport to some degree a passion of theirs, and the complimentary usage of the centres facilities made up for the middling wage. But now the trio was down to two as Sam was leaving for an English teaching internship in Germany.

  
"Yeah, but.." Bucky gave a lopsided smile, pushing his mid-length hair back from his face. Parties and drinking always made him feel a bit sweaty. "It's not just the hanging out. I mean, I love working with you, man. My shift's gonna be lonely without you."

  
Nat finished her drink and set the bottle down carefully by her boots. "They're not going to make you do the shift alone, you know?" She shook her head. "Stop trying to guilt-trip Sam. He needs this."

  
Bucky lifted his hands. "Hey, I'm just kidding, Sam knows I support what he's doing. Right Sam?"

  
Sam laughed. "Yup. They already hired my replacement, boss-man said earlier."

  
"Oh yeah? When's he start?" Nat asked, piqued.

  
"Tomorrow, I think. I caught a look at him coming out of the interview last week."

  
"What's he like?" the redhead grabbed a slice of pizza from the open box atop the nearby box-turned-table. She took a big bite, speaking with her mouth full. "Is he cute?"

  
"I dunno, do you go for big meat heads?" Sam said, grinning.

  
"Meat head? I'm intrigued," Nat answered.

  
"Yeah, the guy was wearing this UnderArmor shirt, probably tryin' to impress upon Phil that he knows what he's doin' in a gym. The guy had biceps like footballs."

  
"Nice," Nat said quietly, looking distant as she took another bite of pizza.

  
Great, Bucky thought. A meat head dude-bro with not much between the ears, he guessed. There were plenty of the gym's regulars that fit that description well. Usually the first thing out of their mouths to him was something along the lines of "Nice bro, you got a metal arm, that's some Terminator shit right there".

  
"I'm really gonna miss you, Sam," was all he said. Sam shook his head, smiling, and pulled Bucky into a hug that was more of a headlock.

  
"I'm gonna miss you too, man."

*****

The next day at work, Bucky started his lunch break by checking his phone to check on Sam's travel progress. There hadn't been an answer to his text, so he assumed Sam was still on the plane. Nat was in the staff room, feet up on the table. Their manager, Phil, didn't appreciate Nat's habit of doing that but never seemed to really say anything about it, but Nat could be intimidating. He'd seen her shut people down with one glance so often.

  
"What you got there?" Bucky asked her, seeing her chewing as she played a game on her phone, a greasy brown paper bag on the table beside her feet.

  
"Pizza," she grunted, not lifting her eyes from her phone screen.

  
Bucky looked at the bag and wrinkled his nose. "That's not.. yesterday's pizza, is it?"

  
"Tastes better next day," she answered, still chewing.

  
"Wow. How the hell did you get a job in a gym?"

  
"I burn it all off," she shrugged. "You seen the new guy?"

  
Bucky sat near her on one of the plastic chairs, pulling his sandwich out of his backpack. "Is he here? I thought he started at two today, it's only twelve thirty."

  
"Well, I guess he likes to be super punctual. He's in the office with Phil. Probably signing his paperwork or whatever. Go and say hi, and big me up while you're there."

  
Bucky was chewing the first bite of his sandwich, his heart sinking when he realised he'd forgotten to put mayo on it. "Um. I just sat down, Nat. I'll see him later, I'm sure."

  
Nat looked at him for the first time that conversation, her expression a mix between withering and understanding. "You're wearing long sleeves. Just jam your hand in your pocket or something. Besides, he's not gonna say anything in front of Phil. That'd be like.. workplace discrimination or something. Just get it over with, say hi."

  
Bucky flushed a bit and looked away, subconsciously touching his left shoulder. "That's not.. I wasn't worried about him seeing my arm," he lied.

  
"Right." Nat raised a brow. "Because you're never worried about new people staring at your arm."

  
"All right, geez," Bucky grumbled, rising to his feet. "If it'll shut you up." He returned Nat's bitch-faced smirk and made his way to Phil's office, still holding half his sandwich.  
He heard voices as he came along the corridor, Phil's and that of another man. He was listening out for the tell-tale meathead talk, but didn't hear anything like that immediately. He came to the open doorway and stood there, looking in, rapping softly on the door with his good hand. "Um, Phil? Sorry to interrupt.."

From the back, Bucky saw what Sam had been talking about at the party. The guy's torso was a perfect V, and he was indeed wearing an unnecessarily tight UnderArmor short sleeved shirt to show off his assets. Bucky's eyes just had time to trail down and notice that he also had a perfect, pert backside filling out his pants before he turned around to face him. Bucky's eyes whipped up instantly. Oh. Oh man.

  
"Hi," the perfect man said to him with a smile, offering his hand to shake. "I'm Steve, the new guy. But you probably guessed," he said conversationally. Bucky was dumbfounded.

  
He was a beautiful, beautiful man. Beautiful but masculine, chiselled and with the face of a church-going, boy-next-door, can-I-borrow-a-cup-of-sugar, blond and blue eyed slice of perfect.

  
"Bucky?" Phil interjected, snapping Bucky out of it. He blinked and swallowed against the dryness in his throat, filling the silence that had been steadily heading for awkward.

  
"Oh, hey, I'm sorry. Um. Steve, nice to meet you. I'm Bucky," and in his fluster-ment, he extended the wrong hand out for Steve to shake.

  
The metal hand. That he'd meant to keep in his pocket. Shit.

  
Bucky looked down at his own hand in horror, the moment taking on a slow-motion quality as he looked up at Steve's face, expecting the usual shock or look of discomfort he was ususally met with. But Steve, not missing a beat, held his left hand out too and clasped the prosthetic, shaking it once without his eyes lingering on it at all, and smiled at Bucky. "Looking forward to working with you, Bucky."

  
Bucky smiled too, not as brilliantly as Steve, but he felt the dread in his stomach drain away; he felt put at ease. He put his left hand back in his pocket out of habit, and pushed back his brown locks with his good hand as if making it known to Steve that he had a good arm too.

  
"Same to you, Steve. Um. I hope you like it here. We're a great bunch."

  
Steve smiled ever brighter, his long eyelashes bringing out the sparkle of his blue eyes. He seemed to notice something on the floor and made a motion to it with his hand. "Oh, is that your sandwich?"

  
"Huh?" Bucky looked down and saw his lunch on the ground, the cheese filling spilled out and the bread butter side down. He must have dropped it earlier when he saw Steve and panicked about his arm or something.. damn.

  
"Crap," he sighed, crouching to pick up the pieces. It was covered in dust and fibres - goodbye lunch. He was hungry, too. He noticed Steve crouch too, picking up bread and cheese that was within his reach. He wondered for a second if he thought of Bucky as an invalid because of his arm , but he dismissed the thought quickly. Steve was just a really nice guy. "Hey, you don't have to do that."

  
"It's no problem, man," Steve answered easily, straightening and tossing the ruined sandwich pieces into the nearby bin, dusting his hands off. "Was that all you had?"

  
"I guess Nat could give me some of her pizza," Bucky said, half-joking, but he'd probably eat it, he was that hungry.

  
Steve smiled, his brows creasing in mirth and very slight disgust. "Poor you. I saw her eating that, how old was that stuff?"

  
"It was from a party last night, Sam's leaving party." Bucky noticed that Phil had gone back to something on his computer, satisfied enough that the new employee was getting on all right with his new co worker.

  
"I met Sam, he seemed a swell guy," Steve said as they walked back to the staff room. Bucky looked at the man. Who said 'swell' any more? Well, Steve, apparently.

  
"Nat, you got any pizza left?" Bucky asked as they entered the staff room.

  
Having an empty crumpled up and greasy brown bag thrown at him was his answer. "Nope, sorry."

  
"That's probably for the best," Steve chimed in, making Bucky feel ashamed for even asking. Steve didn't seem like a cold, day-old pizza kind of guy. "I don't have any lunch with me, I ate before I came in, but I think I got something in my bag." The blond went over to his new locker and retrieved an UnderArmor backpack (the man was pretty co-ordinated, Bucky noticed) and pulled out a small punnet of fruit. "I got these for the walk home. You can have them, it's better than nothing, and a few vitamins are rarely a bad thing, right?"

  
Bucky took the punnet and smiled at Steve. "Plums? I love plums. Are you sure you don't want to keep 'em?"

  
"They're yours." Steve clapped Bucky on the shoulder, placing his backpack back in the locker.

  
Bucky felt so grateful, picking up a small purple fruit and biting into it. It was really tasty, really sweet.

  
Like Steve.

  
Bucky had just found his new favourite fruit.


	2. First Shift, First Dibs?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve starts his first shift at Coulson's gym, and his co-workers are already fighting over him while he remains oblivious.

The weights floor was usually quiet just before lunch, with the early birds already having done their morning workout before work, and the afternoon rush not starting for another few hours. This had always been Bucky and Sam's shift, when it was quiet enough to only necessitate two staff to cater for the whole weights and cardio room. The quieter shift had always been great for Bucky, since he just got to hang and chat with Sam, and the few daytime regulars knew what they were there for and didn't need instructors. No one bothered about his arm, either. That usually happened on the occasion that Bucky was required to work a later shift, which was almost always full of the big poser guys pumping iron in front of mirrors in their inspiration-slogan gym vests.

  
Nat wasn't really happy about doing the extra half-shift. She didn't mind what shift she worked usually, but she'd had to cover an extra two hours until Steve, the new guy, came to take over.

  
"How come he's starting at twelve and not ten?" Bucky asked, the redhead perched against the table beside him. "He had the whole induction and rope-showing yesterday."

  
"Phil's fault," Nat said, looking a bit sour. Bucky knew she liked her nap after work, and her body clock was likely screaming for it. "I dunno why he put him in for twelve. He just told me this morning that I had to cover the two hours." She looked at Bucky. "Though, I guess I get to see him before I go, this way." She smirked at Bucky. "What do you think of him?"

  
Bucky smiled, but he was avoiding her scrutinous gaze. "He seems a really cool guy, easy to get on with," was his noncommittal reply. Nat wasn't convinced.

  
"Oh please, like that's what you noticed about him."

  
Inside, Bucky was fighting an epic internal battle to keep his face going red, but was let off the hook when Nat spoke again.

"Oh, no way. Look over there. Talk about commitment."

 

"Huh?" Bucky looked to where Nat was looking and there was Steve coming through the door into the cardio and weights floor, wearing--

  
"Thank you Jesus," Nat breathed to herself. "Though I don't deserve it.."

  
Steve was wearing a gym vest (thankfully with no cringe-inducing motivational phrase) and running shorts. Now, Bucky worked out quite a bit himself and considered himself in decent shape, but this man's body was something out of a dream of Michaelangelo. He lost the battle with his face.

  
Steve came over to the pair of them, smiling like a sunbeam, holding an iPod in one hand and a gym towel in the other. "Hey! Thought I'd make the most of it and get in my workout before my shift, since I'm here. You guys having a good one so far?" He was met by grunts and mumbles from Nat and Bucky in front of him, but didn't seem to notice their frozen expressions of awe. "All right, I'm gonna get to it. See you shortly," he smiled again and headed over to an empty treadmill to start his warm-up.

  
The duo stared after Steve as he turned and walked off, wondering if those shorts had been somehow custom-moulded to his backside.

  
"I got no chance," Nat commented after a few moments of silent appreciation.

  
The next hour was a visual feast of Steve first working up a light sweat on the cardio machines, then moving to the Smith machine, setting it up for barbell squats and deadlifts. It shouldn't have been a surprise given his physique, but Steve was strong. Bucky had always been proud of what he could lift on the leg press, but Steve smashed his record in the first set, then seemed to consider that a bit too easy, and added another two 20Kg weights to the bar.

  
After he'd finished, still with thirty minutes before his shift, Steve passed them again on his way out of the room. "Pretty good equipment in here," he said conversationally to Bucky and Nat, having mostly caught his breath and glistening with sweat, wiping his towel over the back of his neck. A bead of sweat rolled down his broad shoulder. Bucky swallowed hard.

 

"Oh. Um. Yeah, it's.. it's pretty good equipment," Bucky replied, feeling his face burn. Damn you, face.

  
"Well, I'm gonna hit the shower, get changed, and I'll see you a little before twelve." He smiled, patted Bucky's shoulder since it was nearest, and made his way to the door.

  
Nat turned her head very slowly to look at Bucky once Steve was gone, and he felt her eyes X-ray into his soul. For a few seconds he looked at her, then away at a couple of other customers, trying to act cool.

  
"Pretty nice guy, you said, right?" She asked, watching him closely.

  
"Yeah, he seems all right," Bucky answered, actually shrugging and sticking out his lower lip, trying so hard to play it cool.

  
"Cool?"

  
"Yeah, he's cool. I guess. I dunno." Shrug. Fidget. Examine fingernails.

  
"....."

  
"....."

"You like him so bad it's embarrassing."

  
Bucky immediately gave up, groaning, and buried his face in Nat's shoulder. "Oh my god, Nat, he's insanely hot, what the fuck..."

  
Nat nodded in understanding, patting his hair. "I know, babe."

  
His voice was muffled by her shirt and his own hair, "It's not even just one thing, like his arms, his ass, his legs in those ...fucking shorts... he's gorgeous, he's really kind, what the hell am I gonna do for the next five hours, other than try not to completely embarrass myself?"

  
"You could talk about me to him, see if he's interested in me." Nat smiled, still patting Bucky's hair, who had gone silent. He immediately lifted his head from her shoulder and narrowed his eyes.

  
"Not happening."

  
"Ohh, so you think you got a chance? What if he's one of those, you know," she mock-whispered, "heterosexuals?"

  
Bucky frowned and looked at his shoes. The likelihood was that Steve was straight, and probably wasn't single anyway. People who looked that good were rarely single long. "No, I know I got no chance either. Doesn't mean I wanna help you seduce him though," Bucky smirked at her.

  
"Oh, it's on, then," Nat raised a brow, smiling. "Let the battle for the hot new guy commence."

  
"You're so embarrassing."

  
"I am? Speak for yourself, mister tomato-face."

  
Bucky instinctively lifted a hand and felt his own still-warm cheek. "Yeah, well, I think I'm coming down with something," he lied.

  
"Yeah, that something's called a big gay crush. You're imagining him in the shower right now, aren't you? Soaping up that big, shredded chest-"

  
He shut her up by shoving her off the table where she was perched. "For the love of god, it's getting close to twelve, isn't it time you went home and fell into a coma?"

  
Nat didn't need telling twice to end her shift just a few minutes early. "So that you and Hercules can have some more alone time?" she teased, backing towards the door with a laugh. "Enjoy yourself, stud. You're telling me everything tomorrow."

  
"Tell you what? We're hardly gonna-" he called after her, but she was gone. He heaved a deep sigh, bringing his hand up to cover his face. It was going to be a long afternoon.

____

Bucky had quickly come to realise that Steve was a stickler for being punctual. He walked back into the weights and cardio floor five minutes early for his shift, impeccably dressed in the Coulson's Gym shirt and pants, looking showered and groomed for his shift. Bucky found other things to look at as Steve made his way over to the staff desk - waiting for someone to walk over to you can be awkward enough when that someone isn't someone you have the crazy hots for.

  
"Steve, hey," Bucky said when they were in conversational distance. "All ready for your first shift?"

  
"Ready and able," Steve responded with a smile, standing beside the desk with his hands in his pockets. "Is it normally this quiet at this time?"

  
"Yeah, the big rush usually comes around five or six when everyone's finished work or whatever. Have you worked in a gym before?" Bucky was curious.

  
"Not day-to-day like this, really. I've done a lot of personal training, privately. I still have a few clients, it pays a lot of the bills, but I needed something else. I saw this place had a vacancy coming up, and it has a great reputation, so.." Steve smiled as he finished explaining. "I guess I just like helping people achieve their potential."

  
Bucky was impressed, but not surprised. "Nice, you're a personal trainer?" Steve nodded. "That's really cool. No wonder you're in such great shape." That last part came out before Bucky could really think about it, and he fought back the flush he felt heating his cheeks. It was just an observation, he reasoned with himself.

  
Steve didn't seem to think anything of it, just smiling at the compliment. "Well, if your job is getting other people in shape, you gotta look the part, right?"

  
"Absolutely," Bucky agreed, his good hand absently twirling a loose lock of his hair around a finger, the rest of his hair being tied back. "I wish I was in as good shape as you," he added honestly with a soft laugh.

  
Steve politely deflected the compliment back at him, spreading his hands. Bucky refused to look at his biceps. "Thanks Bucky, but you're in pretty good shape yourself, really."

  
"Are you kidding? I saw you on that leg press, it made me wanna cry," Bucky smiled, shaking his head. It had made him wanna cry, all right.

  
"A lot of people just haven't unlocked their potential, though, and I think that's key. It's not just how heavy you lift, but when you train, the right supplements and vitamins, getting enough rest, and diet is most important of all," Steve explained to a rapt Bucky, who nodded as if this was all new information to him. "I mean - if you want, I could give you a training session or two, on the house. Not that I think you need," -Steve made air-quotation marks with his fingers -"'my expertise', but it never hurts to have someone take a look at your technique and maybe offer a different approach."

 

Bucky let that sink in, that Steve was offering to give him free personal training sessions. He blinked a couple of times. "Oh, wow, um. Sure, that sounds great.."

  
Steve winced slightly. "Ah, I've offended you, haven't I? Darn it. I must have come across as pretty arrogant. What am I thinking? You work in a gym already, it's your job to know about exercise and nutrition. Forget I said anything."

  
Bucky was still smiling at Steve's usage of the word 'darn' when the blond man finished speaking. "No, no, I'm not offended at all. I was just kind of, well. It's a really generous offer. I might just have to take you up on it. I mean, I'm a bit stuck in a rut with my routine right now, maybe switching things up would be good."

  
Steve's face immediately brightened, the smile reaching his gorgeous blue eyes. "Great! I'll get you my number at the end of the shift and we can work something out."

  
Throughout the remaining hours of their shift, Bucky and Steve made light conversation about training, past places of employment, Phil being a cool boss, the perks of working at a gym, and Steve spoke at length about the importance of 'eating clean'. He hadn't really expected Steve to be serious enough about his offer to train Bucky to actually go through with it, or even remember to give him his number. But as they were picking up their belongings from their lockers and saying goodbye to Phil in the office, Steve handed Bucky a slip of paper.

  
"Give me a call when you want to talk about that session, okay?" Steve reminded him with a sunny face.

  
Bucky took the slip of paper and saw in Steve's neat handwriting his name and phone number. His heart skipped a beat. "Oh! Sure thing, I will do. Thanks, Steve." He smiled at the taller man, who naturally returned it.

  
"It's not a problem, Bucky."

  
They started to walk out to the gym's main entrance, Bucky shouldering his backpack on his good side. Steve looked at him for a moment, his face unreadable. "How do you normally get home? You drive?"

  
Bucky shook his head. "Nah, I either walk or take the bus if it's cold or really late. There's nowhere to park around me, and it's cheaper not to drive around here. What about you? Where do you live?" Bucky inwardly cringed. Was that a stalker-y question?

  
"Hm." Steve looked thoughtful. "I don't drive either. I mean, I do, but I sold the car when I moved here. The public transport here's pretty great, and who needs more CO2 emissions, right?" He smiled, showing his perfect teeth. "I'm renting a bike at the moment, probably gonna buy one with my next paycheck. I don't live too far away, I've got an apartment in Victoria Park."

  
"Victoria Park?" Bucky whistled. That was an upmarket area. "Nice. Good call with the bike, too. I should probably do the same. Less of a pain in the ass than walking, cheaper than the bus."

  
Steve nodded, that gentle smile still in place. There was quiet for a beat before he spoke again. "Listen, I'm going that way anyway, let me walk you to the bus stop," he offered as he fished his keys from his bag and unchained his rental bike.

  
Bucky was about to decline the offer, opening his mouth to do so, but changed his mind. He wasn't a kid that couldn't take care of himself, and he'd been getting home the same way without incident (mostly) for years, but.. he just couldn't resist spending a bit more time with Steve. He was just as caring as he was ripped and gorgeous. Damn you, Steve.

  
"Sure," Bucky answered softly after a few seconds, smiling, walking beside Steve who pushed his bike along, heading to the bus stop a couple of streets away.

  
Well, Nat, Bucky thought: look who just got the hot new guy's phone number AND a walk home?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is writing itself, it's so much fun to do. Thanks for reading, comments appreciated! Un-beta-d, as usual.  
> And I know, Steve is such a Mr. Perfect that it's almost vomit inducing, but that's why we love him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments appreciated. I didn't have it beta-d, so apologies for any bum notes.  
> (Yes, Thor and Loki are popping up later)


End file.
